Genealogical news from Spokane, Washington, USA, and the Inland Northwest.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Cyrus Turnbull & Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge Follow-Up

If you Google his name, Cyrus Turnbull, you will learn (as I did) a good cupful of information on this man for whom Turnbull NWR is named.

He was born in 1849 in Des Moines, Iowa and died in 1934 in Sagle, Idaho (tiny town just south of Sandpoint). He married Mary Jane Williams in 1880 in Four Lakes, Washington, and they had: Oliver, Fred, Melissa, Thomas James, Ida, Oscar and Bessie between 1881 and 1893.

"While Cyrus is listed as a farmer in the 1885 Auditor's Census of Spokane County, family members reported that he spent most of his efforts hunting, probably providing wild meat to the newly established and rapidly growing town of nearby Cheney. The area was named after Cyrus by his contemporaries, even though he was not the first settler of the wetlands, never owned land there, and stayed only six years." (RootsWeb, McMahan/Kilsdonk Ancestors).

The Cheney Free Press carried an article with a blurry picture on 21 February 2008. A Google search will bring up this reference too.

Bringing this story down to home, EWGS member Nancy Curry was the refuge manager there for years before her retirement.She says it's still her favorite place to go walking and recommends it to you too. I add my voice to Nancy's!

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